Natasha’s life fell apart when her parents died unexpectedly. Her father had been a big-shot construction contractor scaling up the ranks in the mafia pretty quickly in the market. Life was very good and she was getting ready to finish high school and fulfill her dream of becoming an English major but tragedy struck her father’s business, bringing his entire career to the ground. He was implicated with financial fraud and there were several documents to prove that he was guilty of the charges levied against him. The media was having a field day camping day and night outside their house, hoping to speak to the hotshot contractor turned fraudster. Her father had wanted to send his family away till everything died down but her mother vehemently refused to leave the house and Natasha wouldn’t put her life on hold because of some scandal she was sure would pass as soon as my father proved his innocence. My father tried to get involved but it yielded no result. Nothing was going to separa
Even though I’d agreed to this, I still wasn’t comfortable about the whole situation but I couldn’t back down now. I’d already said I would and going back on my words would make me look filthy in Alessandro’s eyes. “You’re what? Nearly seven feet tall and you’ve got over 150 pounds on me. What do you mean by bullying you into silence?” “That’s not the bone of contention, Gianna. You’re diverting and trying to gaslight me again.”“What do you mean by again?” I scowled, my eyes fixed on the road ahead. Syrius was simply the most annoying person I had ever met. He knew how to get to me without even breaking a sweat and I hated it. Things had to change and they had to change fast. “Surely you know what the word means, right?” Syrius asked. “I mean, it’s a simple word that even a child understands.”“I wasn’t asking you for the meaning, Syrius!” I practically yelled. “But, you—““Are you always this annoying?” I asked. “You’re baiting me and you’re having fun while at it as well.”“Do
“I saved your life, Gianna. The least you can do is be grateful that I was in the right spot at the right time. Do you know what would’ve happened if I wasn’t there?”Whatever he did, he was only trying to justify his actions and make it seem like I’d be indebted to him afterward. The truth was that he was a narcissistic piece of shit who would do anything to benefit him before anyone else. “I need to see Maya, Syrius. You’ll take me to wherever she is and you’ll let her go after I confirm you’ve done no great harm to her.” I said.Syrius stared at me with an unreadable expression plastered on his face. Whatever was going on made me scared but I was struggling to maintain my composure. “If you want to see Maya, I’ll bring her to you.” Syrius eventually said as he snapped his fingers twice and a man appeared. He mumbled something, out of my hearing and the man bowed before walking away briskly. “What was that all about?” I asked, wanting to stay abreast of the situation at hand.“H
“We aren’t done speaking, sweetheart,” Syrius drawled, making my skin crawl. I hated the sound of his voice, I hated his pale skin, I hated his sinister smile, and I hated that I had to do whatever this was with him. I hated everything that had to do with Syrius and the reason this plague was unleashed on the world was because of my father and he was going to pay dearly for it. I knew I couldn’t let Syrius get away with this and anger wasn’t going to yield a lot of results right now. I had to be strategic and think about the possible loopholes that would manifest and use them to bring him down. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was playing one of his stupid games again. Trying to throw Alessandro off-balance, bringing him crumbling to the ground, and then taking me to be his wife. “There’s nothing left for us to talk about, Syrius. You fucked up and the worst part of it is that you don’t feel remorseful about what you’ve done.” I said. “I can’t believe you’re spiraling out o
“Tempers are rising and I don’t think it’s best we continue this conversation any longer. You said you wanted to go home and I think that it’s a brilliant idea, we can continue this later when you’re in a more relaxed state. What do you think?” Syrius was trying to make me seem like I was the crazy one with the way I snapped at him. This was what he did best, emotional manipulation, and he was a master at it. He had the words to say and he knew how to execute them to perfection. It wasn’t going to be easy doing this but I had to see this to the end. I wasn’t doing this for Maya, I was doing it for myself because Syrius had crossed a line and the thing is that, he isn’t going to stop. Maya was the first of his victims and Mike would follow soon after, and then he would turn his focus elsewhere and spill more blood until he got close to home. “You’re right, Syrius. I’m done with this conversation and I’m not saying anything about it anymore. So you need to take this platter and get
David Totti shot up from his king-sized bed as he heard the door to his bedroom being opened, his hand immediately reaching for the gun he kept in his drawer. He turned to his wife, she was soundly asleep, totally oblivious to what was happening. The bedroom was relatively large but he could feel someone staring back at him from the shadows. His feet hit the plush carpet in a hurry as he moved towards the switch. It was a risky move which could put his wife in danger but he was willing to take it. It was better to fight an opponent you could see. Just as his hand hit the switch, he heard his wife scream. He swirled round to see the intruder put a bullet between her eyes. He tried to move his arm but he couldn't, his whole body went stiff. The last thing he ever saw was the intruder's right arm as he struck him with the sledgehammer.According to the police report, they found blood-spatter stains, consistent with blunt force trauma, near the south of the bedroom.Forensic evidence sho
Alessandro’s POVI listened to the police officer as he spoke. Two months ago, Maya had set off in her car and made her way to the private art studio I bought in her name when she turned eighteen but she never returned home.The police were yet to find any credible lead or her body either and only the people in the mafia knew the truth but we were all tight-lipped about it. We didn’t need to spill anything to the police because we could handle the situation and take revenge by ourselves.I just wished they’d drop the case and never bug me about it again but I didn’t want to act rude and give them any incentive that I was trying to cover up something so putting up with them was the best thing I could do right now. Before she died, she begged for a meeting and after several weeks of delay, I finally gave in but when she never showed up, I knew something was wrong. I tried calling her but her phone went straight to voicemail. I called her friends but no one had seen her, Mike was nowhe
I closed the door of my pickup truck as I scaled the stairs, two at a time, and made my way into the conference room. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the large screen. I briefly glanced at Syrius, his face was set with concentration and anger as he chewed on his bottom lip, his eyes narrowed into slits."I got here as fast as I could. Has anyone traced the E-mail with which the video was sent?" I asked.To apologize after scarring me with Maya’s severed head, Syrius had brought me into his circle much to his associate’s surprise but they didn’t dare argue with him. "We hit a dead end. But, it doesn't matter anymore. They made their intent clear already, this is a statement of war." Syrius bit out."I know for certain that these same guys are the ones behind the constant attacks on our businesses. They couldn't have done all these without having an inside man.""If you believe there's a mole in your organization. Why haven't you taken him out yet?" "How do you know we're not?" Abel, Sy
Seven years laterIt’s been seven years of peace and our relations with everyone have prospered as well. There has been no war or reports of rebellions in any part of the jurisdiction that Yoda oversees and we have been living our best lives as well aside from the occasional attempts by people who wanted to harm us. The pact we made with Yoda seven years ago had proven to be a masterstroke. The starting had been extremely difficult seeing as Yoda wasn’t from the bloodline but as things went on, it became easier for Alessandro to teach Yoda the ropes and he had been extremely patient with Yoda until he became his own man. Jade had returned to her coven after completing her teachings and it had been a year since we saw her last. It was quite understandable, she had left a lot of things unattended to and they needed her now more than ever. The coven was growing and they needed a permanent high priestess. The most shocking thing that had happened in the past seven years was the marria
The door opened once again and this time, Yoda walked in.“Am I interrupting something?” He asked.“No, not at all. I was only checking in on the Don.” The doctor said, “You also need to convince her to sleep, I pray you have better luck with that than I did.” As soon as the door closed, Yoda turned to face me.“You know the doctor is right, yes?” “I’m tired of hearing that, Yoda.” I sighed. “I’ll have peace of mind when he’s back with us, not before.” “You’re just as stubborn as he is.” Yoda shook his head. “Is that a compliment or..?” I trailed off, hoping he would provide the answers. “It depends on what perspective you’re seeing it from.” Yoda shrugged. “Do you think he’s going to come out of this?” I asked, my eyes finding Alessandro. “I’m going to tell you something, Gianna. I’m not sure he’s told you yet but Alessandro relinquished his position in this mafia a while ago.”I stared at him like he’d gone mad. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” “No, I’m not. He handed everythi
I was consumed by fear and an even greater desire to figure out what the hell was going on with Alessandro. It’s been weeks since the decimation of Syrius and I was supposed to have the best time of my life at this point. I had been working hard to pick up the pieces of the rubble the scuffle left behind. It was over now, our enemies and anyone who might have wanted to stand against us, their prestige, and honor were in the dirt now. Everyone was begging to swear fealty to the mafia. Life couldn’t have gone any better or so I thought. I had to face the backlash head-on, I had everything to lose and nothing to gain if I didn’t figure out what was wrong with Alessandro. Thankfully, our child had been drugged with sleeping pills throughout, so he wasn't traumatized and the doctors had cleared him a few days after I was discharged but Alessandro’s case was proving to be quite difficult. It was expected that defeat would come at a huge price and seeing Alessandro lying unconscious in h
“You should’ve stayed hidden, Syrius. What the fuck do you want?” “Careful, Gianna. I enjoy you but be careful. The Syrius you once knew is gone and I don’t play around anymore.” I paused and weighed my options. I didn’t want to rile him up, he held all the chips and I had nothing. “Where’s my son?” I asked. “He’s safe.” Syrius replied. “He has no part in whatever revenge plot you have, you need to let him go and take me in his stead.” I said, trying to bargain. “I’ll make you a better offer, Gianna.” Syrius chuckled. I didn't want to hear anything he had to say but I had no choice.“And what could that be? All I want is my son. I’m not interested in bargaining for his life.” I reiterated. “I know Alessandro forces you into doing and if it weren’t for him, I’d have taken you from him all those years ago.” Syrius began. “You’re delusional if you—““I can’t stand seeing him happy and if you’ll be willing to cut ties to him, I’ll return your son to you and you’ll be by my side
I walked briskly into the large room, it was a typical, bleak coffee-stained room with dirty walls. The scent of sweat, cigarettes and musky cologne hung in the air like a chandelier, there were pictures on the wall which were some kind of modern art, the furniture looked plain, uncomfortable, leather and black. My eyes landed on a large man sitting at the center of the room. A long metal table with paper strewn across the surface, separated me from who I assumed to be the boss, he was flanked by men holding mean-looking guns, some I hadn't seen before in my life and that said a lot about the kind of people I was dealing with here. I took a close look at him as I approached the table, my gaze wary as it darted from face to face trying to pick up a hint. The skin on his body looked like grade-three sandpaper, the consistency was unreal. He lifted his face and pushed away his bowl of cereal as he saw me coming towards him. His face was badly burnt, the hair on his head was charred an
Lying down on the raw concrete, I could feel the walls closing in around me. I felt the vicious pounding of my heart banging repeatedly against my ribcage.I shut my eyes tightly. I could still hear myself yelling their names over the cacophony of a billion shards of glass as my head slammed into the mirror. I couldn't bring myself to bask in the pain I felt. I had little to no time to do what these men wanted or my son would be dead. Instinctively, I touched where a shard of glass had cut me. The wound had been bandaged expertly. I had to give it to them, they had thought everything through before they made their first attack. I was like a recruit thrust into the heat of a raging war, I needed to find a safe place before I was blown to bits out here in the open.I groaned as I struggled to sit up, I had no idea on how I got here but I didn't care about that right now. I had more important things to worry about, I needed to be up on my feet, thinking. I needed my brain working overt
I had lost my touch. That's what happens when you become docile after years of being on guard."Do exactly what I say or you die." I could feel my heart racing despite my best attempts to compose myself.I knew I was walking into a trap but I had no choice. I wasn’t entirely sure that the letter came from Syrius, maybe it was only a silly joke being played by some crazy maniac but what I was certain of was that whoever sent the letter had my son and I was willing to do anything to get my child back. The accent was masculine and Eastern European. There was no quake or tremor in the man's voice. His tone sounded calm and detailed. This was no hoax, if I went out of line, I would die.I tried to remember if either Alessandro or myself had any issues with any mafia from that part of the world but I couldn’t come up with anything. "What do you want?"I asked fearfully as the cold steel of his gun pressed into the small of my back.I needed a distraction. My first instinct was to lean
I felt dejected as I searched each room hoping to find him in there but I knew the truth, he was gone and I had no idea where he had gone to. The wardrobe was empty as well, he had packed his bags and he was probably halfway across the world for all she could know. Despite sitting in our room for hours, I knew I missed him and I could feel the tears stinging the back of my eyes. This wasn’t how I had envisaged my life a few weeks and it hurt now that I was faced with this shitty reality. Our first conversation after he’d been discharged from the hospital didn’t go too well. I couldn’t stop myself from blaming him for the disappearance of our son. I categorically told him that I believed our son was kidnapped because of the ties he has to him and the mafia. Alessandro had tried to reason with me but I didn’t want to hear any of it, all I wanted was my son. My phone rang and I retrieved it from my pocket, it was Tiffany. She had promised to call back after a couple of hours.“Hey
I had lost my touch. That's what happens when you become docile after years of being on guard."Do exactly what I say or you die." I could feel my heart racing despite my best attempts to compose myself.I knew I was walking into a trap but I had no choice. I wasn’t entirely sure that the letter came from Syrius, maybe it was only a silly joke being played by some crazy maniac but what I was certain of was that whoever sent the letter had my son and I was willing to do anything to get my child back. The accent was masculine and Eastern European. There was no quake or tremor in the man's voice. His tone sounded calm and detailed. This was no hoax, if I went out of line, I would die.I tried to remember if either Alessandro or myself had any issues with any mafia from that part of the world but I couldn’t come up with anything. "What do you want?"I asked fearfully as the cold steel of his gun pressed into the small of my back.I needed a distraction. My first instinct was to lean